Chinese Suppleness Versus Strength

An ancient Chinese philosopher who was at the brink of death once summoned his students to his bedside and asked: "Do you see my teeth?"

His students replied: "No, they are all gone."

Philosopher: "What about my tongue?"

Students: "It is still there."

The moral of the story? Anything that is soft, flexible and supple is more enduring, and has better chances of survival, than something that is hard and impenetrable.

As Zhang Xiaofeng (张晓风) noted in an article published in 中国人与外国人 (Chinese and Foreigners, 1997), all Chinese instinctively understand the concept 以柔制刚 (using suppleness to overcome strength).

Zhang wrote: "That is why despite having been ruled by the Mongols for 90 years, and by the Manchus (pictured, Manchu Emperor Yongzheng) for 260 years, the Han Chinese had not lost anything. If anything, it was the conquerors who had fallen in love with the Chinese landscape and culture, and who had even assimilated themselves with the Chinese."